All Hail The PC: Console Gaming Is Dead

[Jumplion]

Maybe a time is coming where the actual quality of the software will start to matter through and through, instead of this effects / story tradeoff currently going on.

I suppose, that could explain something because we know absolutely nothing of games in the next-next-gen of gaming.

I mean, even in the PS2 era we knew that God of War 3 would be on the PS3 and KH3 would be on next gen consoles.

I bet worthless money (betting's bad for the soul!) that as soon as we know about next-next-gen games that the weird void will fall off (assuming other people have that feeling to.)

 

[Aries_Split]

PFFFT!

The day I shell out $4367 for a gaming laptop that can barely do what my $1800 rig can do is the day I go insane.
(I am a primarily PC Gamer BTW, but I own a PS3 and a wii as well)

 

[rougeknife]

I love PC gaming much more than consoles, but even I know that this is a bunch of horseshit.

QFT.

I was reading and the whole time all I could think of was... well, an image is worth a thousand words:

I love PC gaming, I'd never get a console because I consider them an inferior experience. Over time, a mixture of tall poppy syndrome, nostalgia and alcoholism has turn my distain of consoles into a deep set hatred. The fall of many great games and their developers, coupled with the rise and popularity of many insipid titles being hailed as 'Great' has increase my ire significantly. Thus, the amount of empty bottles in the corner has risen dramatically, to the point where a foetal shape can still be seen amoung the glass.

But even that cannot make me agree with much of what this man says... its just, well, the bear says it better than I. He's a birdman, trying to fly by putting on feather wings and jumping off a cliff flapping furiously.

And he's going to fail.

 

[Aries_Split]

I love PC gaming, I'd never get a console because I consider them an inferior experience. Over time, a mixture of tall poppy syndrome, nostalgia and alcoholism has turn my distain of consoles into a deep set hatred. The fall of many great games and their developers, coupled with the rise and popularity of many insipid titles being hailed as 'Great' has increase my ire significantly. Thus, the amount of empty bottles in the corner has risen dramatically, to the point where a foetal shape can still be seen amoung the glass.

mgs4

 

[VandreKhonos]

I don't think St. John has had the pleasure of playing a 2 to 3 year old game on a laptop with Vista OS on it.

It's highly unlikely that either PC gaming or Console gaming should overcome and replace each other. They have both evolved into different systems with different benefits and flaws respectively for both developers and its consumers.

 

[Virgil]

I don't think St. John has had the pleasure of playing a 2 to 3 year old game on a laptop with Vista OS on it.

You probably shouldn't assume that. Despite the relatively poor reception of WildTangent, that's mostly business and marketing issues; as a technology platform it's very slick. You might know his previous project a bit better - he's also the creator of DirectX.

That said, there is one major issue that needs to be solved before PCs will ever be at the center of gaming again, and that's being user-friendly. I'm a PC guy. My computer is self-built, top of the line, regularly upgraded, all that fun stuff. But the fact of the matter is that playing on a console is easier. Disc goes in the console, game starts up. With current consoles, maybe there's a patch or install process, but it's all automatic. You put in the game, wait, and it starts.

PCs involve more complicated install processes. Driver compatibility problems. Configuring a dozen or more different audio and video options. Patches. Networking issues. Sure, some games do better than others in this regard, but it can take an hour or more of tedious setup to get a game installed and working properly. Until games are a base part of the operating system, and as easy to get into and play as they are on a console, PC gaming will remain a second-class citizen.

 

[Eminate]

Wow, I got to tell you, I don't see the console going away any time soon. The home console is becoming more of an entertainment center. The PC can not replace that.

Wrong. The pc HAS become the entertainment center. Who doesn't have a cable from their video card to the tv and the sound card hooked up to a 7.1 surround system these days?

After spending the last 4 years strictly ignoring my ps2 for pc gaming I was seriously disappointed with the quality of the graphics of the ps3 I purchased the day Metal Gear 4 came out.

I won't be buying another console again. They just don't have the power you can get out of a mid-priced pc and every game that is made for console and pc,or ported to pc looks and plays much better on pc. Don't get me started on the maturity level of console vs pc online gamers.

I will always have fond memories of you and all your wonderful games pong, intellivision, Nes, Super Nes, Sega Saturn,and Playstation 1,2 and 3, but I am moving on to hardware that I can upgrade small bits at a time. So long.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Who doesn't have a cable from their video card to the tv and the sound card hooked up to a 7.1 surround system these days?

I don't, and I don't wish to replace my current (somewhat elderly) computer and OS in order to do so when my console can simply read files off my computer's hard drive instead as-is.

It all comes down to personal preference, doesn't it?

-- Steve

 

[[zonking great]]

Not going to happen, St John. Why? The need for upgrades. A console is on top when you buy it at first, with room for more expansion as the developers learn to utilise this expansion. But you still have the same console.

This opposed to PC gaming, where you have to do a complete reinstallation of windows to clean your pc just to play one game. Let alone the upgrades. I'd rather shell out a lot of cash in one buy than thinking I'm off better buying a PC and being blissfully unaware of the hidden costs of this constant upgrading.

 

[RYjet911]

I was in a conversation with my friend a while back about the line between PCs and consoles, how PCs are becoming more like consoles and consoles are becoming more like PCs, the area between becoming ever so narrow. We're waiting for the time when the switch happens, when the consoles will become the PCs and the PCs will become the consoles.

All I can see happening is that consoles will still hold a market for having more powerful processing at a cheaper price than the equivalent PC, while PCs have the greater flexibility in everything they do.

 

[Andy Chalk]

PCs are becoming more like consoles and consoles are becoming more like PCs

Now we're getting on to something. Have a look at two parallel evolutionary processes here: Consoles have become far more complicated (or perhaps complex is a better word) over the years, while PCs have become infinitely simpler. It wasn't that many years ago that even just the idea of online interactivity on a console was a pipe dream, and while PCs are still much less user friendly than the average button-box, compare them to the days of setting com ports and IRQs via jumpers and having to manually configure your sound and video cards for every individual game you owned (you damn kids these days) and you'll see how far things have come.

Is it unreasonable, then, to extend those processes to the point where you have essentially a crossover between the two, when the difference between a PC and a console is really just a matter of what accessories you own for the thing? St. John is sticking by his comments (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/85831-We-Wont-See-an-Xbox-720-or-PS4) and Sony recently announced a full QWERTY keyboard for the PS3 - which can be plugged in via a USB port. The line between the PC and consoles is thin and getting thinner, and while I have no doubt that St. John is making his comments in part to stir controversy (and get attention), I also don't think he should be dismissed out of hand.

 

[Aeranlaes]

While I'm a PC gamer and agree with Yahtzee's assertion of the 'PC gamer master race', I don't see consoles dying anytime soon. I guess St. John is implying portables will be more popular in the future, and may potentially overshadow consoles. Still, I see an open market for both.

 

[[email protected]]

I agree...consoles are dying..PC for the win!

 

[Jumplion]

PCs are becoming more like consoles and consoles are becoming more like PCs

Now we're getting on to something. Have a look at two parallel evolutionary processes here: Consoles have become far more complicated (or perhaps complex is a better word) over the years, while PCs have become infinitely simpler. It wasn't that many years ago that even just the idea of online interactivity on a console was a pipe dream, and while PCs are still much less user friendly than the average button-box, compare them to the days of setting com ports and IRQs via jumpers and having to manually configure your sound and video cards for every individual game you owned (you damn kids these days) and you'll see how far things have come.

Is it unreasonable, then, to extend those processes to the point where you have essentially a crossover between the two, when the difference between a PC and a console is really just a matter of what accessories you own for the thing? St. John is sticking by his comments (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/85831-We-Wont-See-an-Xbox-720-or-PS4) and Sony recently announced a full QWERTY keyboard for the PS3 - which can be plugged in via a USB port. The line between the PC and consoles is thin and getting thinner, and while I have no doubt that St. John is making his comments in part to stir controversy (and get attention), I also don't think he should be dismissed out of hand.

All hail the master race, the Ponsole!